WASHINGTON — Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has spent $5.4 million in the first five months of his investigation investigating Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents and attempting to overturn the election of 2020, according to documents filed Friday.
Additionally, former special counsel John Durham has spent $1.1 million in the past six months investigating the origins of the Russia Inquiry. Expenses for Durham’s four-year investigation totaled nearly $7.7 million.
And special counsel Robert Hur spent $615,000 in the first six months of his investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
It is unusual to have three special councils operating at the same time. Documents filed for the six months ending March 31 provide a general overview of the scope of the various investigations. For example, Durham’s spending peaked last year amid two lawsuits. Smith has indicted Trump in the classified documents investigation and continues to investigate potential voter fraud. Hur has yet to announce the results.
Here is what we know about the different probes:
Smith’s investigation of Trump
Attorney General Merrick Garland made the unprecedented move to appoint Smith in November to criminally investigate Trump.
Smith indicted Trump and his personal valet, Walt Nauta, in June for willfully withholding national security documents and conspiring to obstruct justice. Trump and Nauta each pleaded not guilty.
Smith’s investigation continues into whether Trump interfered with the transfer of power after the 2020 election or the counting of Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters ransacked the Capitol.
The Durham Inquiry into the Origin of the Russian Inquiry
Former attorney general Bill Barr asked Durham in May 2019 to look into the origins of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and appointed him special counsel in October 2019.
Durham’s final report in May criticized the FBI but recommended no sweeping changes because the agency’s new leadership had already passed dozens of changes after an inspector general’s investigation.
Lawmakers split along party lines over Durham’s findings.
Hur’s investigation of classified Biden documents
Garland appointed Hur in January to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents found in a former office, which he held between his terms as vice president and president, and at his home in Delaware.
Trump claimed he was indicted in a political prosecution after FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago a year ago and found hundreds of classified White House documents he had left a year and a half earlier.
Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence each volunteered to find classified documents after Trump’s search and cooperated with authorities to retrieve them.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ probe into Donald Trump costs $5.4 million and continues